Triplicate
by JMProfio
Summary: The Destiny reaches its destination a few years before its estimated end date, but seems to be in a different reality than the one they know. Crossover with Stargate: Universe, Once Upon A Time, and Eragon (in later chapters). Mostly just experimenting with different Robert Carlyle characters interacting.


**So I wrote this at like 3 am. Don't judge me if it's weird.**

* * *

Rush was in his quarters, trying for the tenth time that day to get some rest, when his walkie-talkie buzzed to life and Eli's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Um, Dr. Rush?" he said. "You might want to come check this out. Like, right now."

Rush sighed, grabbing the walkie-talkie off of the counter. "What is it this time?"

"We traveled a massive amount during this last FTL jump. It doesn't make sense, actually; we skipped over about three galaxies worth of distance. If this is right... I think we're home."

The mathematician jumped quickly to his feet, immediately alert at the prospect of returning to Earth. "Are you positive?" he asked. "You're not misreading something?"

"I don't _think_ I am." Eli sounded mildly offended by the idea. "You can take a look at it yourself when you get here, but we've checked and double checked. It seems legit."

Rush paused in the hall, looking around at the halls of the ship that had been his home for so long he'd forgotten how long it had actually been. The Destiny's walls seemed more like an actual home than anywhere he had ever been.

And now, it seemed the trip was over.

* * *

The town was still mostly dark, the sun barely rising over the horizon. A lone figure walked across the center square, staring up at the sky as if expecting something while leaning heavily on his cane.

"Gold!" a voice shouted from some distance away.

The man didn't look away from the sky as he replied. "Hello, Charming. You're up rather early."

"I could say the same to you," Charming replied, eyeing Gold suspiciously. "It's barely six AM. What are you doing wandering around out here?"

"I'm waiting for something."

"For what?"

The older man smirked slightly. "Our... Destiny, you might say."

* * *

"What's our location?" Young asked, staring at the Stargate. Around him, people were bustling around collecting their belongings and chattering excitedly. Eli and Rush were at the consoles, keeping a close eye on the readings.

"Somewhere over Maine," Rush responded. "The reading's having trouble locking on."

"It's kinda weird," Eli added. "It keeps almost locking onto a location, then jumping away. It's like the place doesn't exist."

Rush smirked. "Maybe it doesn't."

Young stared suspiciously at the older man. "If you know something, Rush, you'd better say it."

"Just a theory, really," Rush replied. "We've been lightyears away from home for who knows how long. What if this Earth isn't _our_ Earth?"

"What?" Eli interjected. "Like an alternate universe? You know those only exist in scifi movies and stuff, right?"

"We're several years ahead of our predicted course, correct?" the Scottish man said. "Over a town that apparently isn't real. What if it simply doesn't exist on _our_ Earth, so the ship doesn't recognize it as a possible location? And how would you explain our sudden early arrival?"

Eli began to speak, then paused. "Yeah, I guess that kinda makes sense. In a weird, there's-no-better-answer sort of way."

"How do we land?" Young asked. "We don't know how to pilot this thing, and this unknown town probably doesn't have a Stargate nearby. Who's to say we won't just jump into FTL again?"

Rush looked down at the unsteady blip of the nonexistent town with a knowing smirk. "I don't think we have to worry about that."

* * *

"I've seen a lot of weird things in this town," Emma said calmly, "But this is just ridiculous. Is that a _spaceship_?"

"Don't worry, that's weird for us, too," Snow replied.

A small crowd had gathered in the square, staring up at the large vessel obstructing a large amount of the sky. It was very definitely a spaceship, and all of the citizens of Storybrooke were watching it with confusion, with the exception of Mr. Gold, who seemed strangely calm about the entire situation. Charming gazed at him suspiciously.

"Gold," he said, "Do you know something about this?"

Gold smirked slightly, leaning on his cane. "I didn't put it there, if that's what you're implying. But I did have a hunch that it would appear."

"How?" Emma asked.

"Patience," he replied. "There's a man onboard that I believe could explain the situation much better than I could. It wasn't magic that brought them here. Simply science. " He reached into his pocket and produced a small vial. "Although magic might be needed to assist them."

Belle looked at him with disapproval. "I thought you said you'd stop using magic."

He looked at her apologetically. "I have to do this. I'm sorry. One final spell, and then never again."

She didn't reply, looking away from him silently. He watched her for a moment, then turned back towards the ship and opened the vial. A cloud of colorful smoke spread out of the bottle, forming itself into the shape of seven people, standing in a group. The forms resolved themselves into seven solid people, six of whom were staring around themselves in disbelief, and one who seemed mildly impressed but not particularly surprised.

Young looked around, taking in his surroundings after he had very suddenly disappeared from the gate room of the Destiny. Counting heads, he could only count six other members of the crew: Eli, Chloe, TJ, Scott, Greer... and Rush. There were other people standing nearby, but their faces were unfamiliar. Well, almost all unfamiliar.

"Rush," he said angrily, "What the hell just happened? And why are there two of you?"

The non-crew members seemed just as confused by this fact, staring between Rush and Gold in evident perplexion.

"Just what we need," Emma muttered. "Two of him running around."

Gold walked up to their group, apparently still very calm at addressing his duplicate. "Apologies for the sudden departure. It must have been quite a shock for you. And apologies for not being able to transport the entire crew; the spell was limited to seven, and I suppose it chose the seven that would prove the most useful."

Young looked from Gold to Rush, then back at Gold. "Look, other Rush-"

"Gold."

"Look, Gold, what the hell is going on here? Where the hell are we, and who the hell are you?"

"Those are some pretty good questions," Charming agreed. "What the hell just happened?"

It was Rush who answered. "Destiny reached its final destination. Now it should probably start its return-"

His explanation was cut short by a loud _boom _and a flash of bright light as the ship disappeared completely from the sky. Young swore under his breath.

"There are people on that ship," he said, "_civilians_,who are now without their two main scientists, their medic, their commanding officer-"

"Colonel," Rush attempted to interject.

"-they could all die out there because of whatever the hell just-"

"Colonel."

"-we need to get back on that ship right-"

"_Colonel Young_."

Young ceased yelling at Gold and turned his attention to Rush. "What?"

Rush was smiling slightly. "That isn't what it looks like when FTL kicks in."

"It's not?" Eli asked in confusion. "It looked pretty breaking-the-light-barrier from here."

"In case you've forgotten," the Scottish man said. "I was left for dead on a planet once before. I've seen the ship enter FTL. That was a spectacular light show, but I believe it's more akin to, say, entering a wormhole than entering FTL."

"A wormhole?" Young's tone was dripping with skepticism.

"How else could we have gotten here?" Rush asked. "Destiny must have it built in for emergency uses. An artificial wormhole to jump from universe to universe."

"So we are in an alternate universe, then?" Eli clarified.

"How else would you explain this?" Gold interjected. He turned to Rush, extending a hand. "You're Nicholas Rush, I presume?"

Rush shook his hand. "And would I be correct in assuming your name isn't really Mr. Gold?"

"Rush," Young demanded. "What the hell is going on?"

"This may be a bit surprising," Rush began. "I discovered what appeared to be this wormhole drive on Destiny several weeks ago. There was a location already dialed into it, and I couldn't alter the destination at all. But I found something strange; instead of a town or a city, the information on the location was a collection of what appeared to be fairytales."

Eli scoffed. "Fairytales? Like Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood?"

Ruby waved her hand slightly. "Little Red's right here. Oh, and that's Snow over there."

"You've gotta be kidding me," Greer muttered.

"It's a lot to take in," Emma said. "Trust me, I know."

Young was staring suspiciously at Gold. "So who exactly are you, then?"

Gold bowed sarcastically, smirking slightly. "Rumplestiltskin, at your service."


End file.
